Mahanthappa quartet plans to blow Vancouver Jazz Fest ‘wide openâ€™

Published: June 16, 2014

Rudresh Mahanthappa, alto sax, and Jack De Johnette of the Jack De Johnette Group perform at Place des Artsâ€™ Jean Duceppe theatre as part of the Montreal International Jazz Festival in July 2010. John Kenney/THE Montreal GAZETTE files

STUART DERDEYNVANCOUVER DESI

Arriving in New York in 1997, Indian-American saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa quickly gained a reputation as a player of gargantuan talent.

His 1997 bandleader debut, Yatra, began a career that spans over a dozen critically acclaimed albums, including 2013â€™s Gamak (Act & Vision).

This quartet of Mahanthappaâ€™s is made up of guitarist David Fiuczynski and longtime partners drummer Dan Weiss and bassist FranĂ§ois Moutin.

Gamak ranges from country to swing to tunes the musician says are similar to heavy metallists Meshuggah. All meant to explore how the average music lover of today hears sound as part of a fast-moving global citizenry.

â€śGamakâ€™s music is symptomatic of my own attempts to understand myself in the context of this fast-moving global listenership and its wide-ranging tastes,â€ť says Mahanthappa.